Title	SIGN THEIR YEARBOOK
Brand	NEW YORKERS AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE
Product/Service	GUN VIOLENCE AWARENESS
Category	B02. Public Affairs & Lobbying
Entrant	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production	VOLT Stockholm, SWEDEN

Name	Company	Position
Oskar Pernefeldt	Volt Stockholm	Art Director
Linus Bronge	Volt Stockholm	Art Director
Daniel Vaccino	Volt Stockholm	Creative Director
Maria Sandberg	Volt Stockholm	Account Director
Gabriela Brandén	Volt Stockholm	Account Manager
Staffan Kjellvestad	Volt Stockholm	Visualizer
Per Sturesson	Volt Stockholm	Digital Designer
Jan Landfeldt	United Frog Studios	Photographer
Ulf Nilsson	United Frog Studios	Photographer
Mårten Sahlin	SingSing	Music
Simon Strand		PR Consultant

The Campaign

Every year millions of students get their yearbook signed by their friends, but not everyone gets the chance to experience this fine tradition. In the last 15 years alone, over 30 000 Americans have died in gun-violence before graduating high school. We created a posthumous yearbook for the students who never got the chance to be in one. By signing at the campaign-site you could leave your condolences, but also demand change, since the yearbook itself doubled as an official petition to strengthen gun-laws. On September 8th the yearbook, now filled with signatures, was handed over to Congress. The parents and relatives of the victims in the book, received copies as well. “Sign Their Yearbook” tapped into a deeply rooted American tradition that is all about hopes and plans for the future, and turned it upside down by focusing on the personal tragedies that America has suffered due to gun-violence.

Execution

We created a posthumous yearbook for all the students who never got the chance to be in one. The book was designed just like a regular yearbook, but contained pictures of victims of gun-violence. With a digital signature at signtheiryearbook.com you could leave your condolences, but also demand change for the future, since the book itself doubled as an official petition to legislate universal background checks on gun-purchases. The site was a simple call-to-action, and the signatures were then packaged in a physical yearbook and moreover petition. On the 8th of September the yearbook was handed over to Congress, bringing a close to a 6-week campaign period consisting solely of the website, PR and earned media. The book itself was created in close collaboration with the parents and relatives of the victims featured in the yearbook.

“Sign Their Yearbook” was signed by thousands, seen by millions and covered by some of world’s most influential media, including The New York Times, Huffington Post, Business Insider, Fast CO Create, Metro NY, Mic, and Yahoo. The campaign created a platform for New Yorkers Against Gun Violence to make their case in the public eyes of America. The campaigns potential reach was over 169 millions and an estimated advertising value of 1 727 850 USD according to Meltwater Group. In a debate that has become very political the yearbook offered a powerfully personal perspective, using the action of average Americans to protest the historical inactions of the politicians at power. Whether this will lead to stricter gun laws now, or not, is currently in the hands of US Congress.

The Situation

We created a posthumous yearbook for all the students who never got the chance to be in one, due to gun violence. "Sign Their Yearbook" was a PR-driven idea that offered a personal perspective on an issue that has become all political, and put emotional emphasis on that which is often reduced to just another statistic in the gun-control-debate. By using an all-American tradition about hopes and dreams and adding a devastating twist, the yearbook served not only as a call for change, but as a platform for the voice and arguments of The New Yorkers Against Gun Violence.

The Strategy

Our strategy was to put emotional emphasis on an issue that all to often is reduced to statistics, politics and numbers. The right to bare arms is deeply funded in the American soul and cultural heritage. To make people think and re-think, we used an equally American and equally powerful tradition in order to disarm pro-gun-advocates. A posthumous yearbook for the students who never got the chance, to be in one. The idea was in essence a powerfully personal perspective on the gun-issue. The yearbook was a remembrance, an honoring, and also a call for chance; since the book doubled as an official petition that was handed over to Congress.